I CAME ACROSS THIS ARTICLE AND THOUGHT IT WORTHY OF POSTING HERE. USE THIS METHOD ONLY AT YOUR OWN RISK AND GO SLOWLY. THIS IS BUT ONE METHOD THAT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY USED BY OTHERS WITH SOME SUCCESS.
Subject: Parasites
Fm: Kenneth Johnson To: Eric Castren
Eric,
To clarify the method I described involved lowering the salinity of the whole/actual aquarium. I agree that freshwater dipping, (outside the aquarium) or dipping in general, is stressful on the fish, not to mention impractical when trying to net fish in reef aquaria full of rock and delicate corals. Dipping outside the aquaria is also self-defeating (in my opinion), in the fact that it does not kill the free swimming and dormant eggs/spores within the aquaria. You are correct, most parasites are only eradicated within the tank during the free swimming stage. On parasite life cycle I will stop here because it is obvious in your correspondence, the info. would be old hat. No sense in stating what you already know.
On the salinity level, I have found an effective treatment level to be 1.017 in reef aquaria. Most corals are safe even lower than this (in my experience), but 1.017 usually does the trick. If I had to recommend a floor for the salinity, I have been as low as 1.015 in reef aquaria. Corals closed slightly directly after lowering salinity, but were open fully the next day, and I noticed no long term detrimental affects in growth rate as a result. I failed to mention before, that if the replacement water is RO/DI or other softened source, then a buffering agent should be employed to prevent ph and alkalinity drop.
It should be noted, that corals on reefs, are often subjected to much lower salinities than those stated above, after heavy rain falls. Especially reefs located near deltas. In extreme cases, corals have bleached (ie. expelled their xooanthellae, due to osmotic stress), and even died under such circumstances, but in most cases are little affected.
To adress sensitive corals, yes there are certain corals which I would have concern with in this treatment (Seriotopora hystrix for example). This category of sensitive corals would extend to Montipora digitata, Pocillopora sp., and other such hard corals generally exhibiting a fine, dense, polyp structure. Acropora sp. has been fine. Sensitive soft corals such as Xenia, lemnalia, etc.. respond little to the lower salinity. Even the hard corals I have mentioned should be fine down to 1.017, (wiith the exception of Seriotopora) as long as ph and alkalinity are kept at normal levels. I have NEVER lost any coral to this method , though the need has not arisen to use this method with the more sensitive hard corals mentioned.
The level at which salinity is at the beginning of treatment is irrelevant, as long as it is dropped slowly. If it is dropped too slowly, the parasites seem to adjust, and initial effect is less effective.
In a fish tank only, I usually recommend a level of 1.012, as was recommended to me by Dave at Aquarium Systems. I have not found any specie of fish that responds negatively, and found it the most effective for butterflies and the larger, more senstive angels (most notably Pomacanthus sp.).
Does the lower salinity kill the parasites? I can't say for sure, but the fish seem to exhibit almost immediate signs of relief. Some parasites release from the fish immediately, and others (such as black ich) have discolored, which implys they may be exploding due to osmotic change. Fish usually resume normal behaviour within 24 hrs. By leaving the salinity at the treatment level for at least 2 - 3 weeks, I have never seen an immediate recurrence, which would leave me to believe all the parasites are killed. A customer of mine was the first to try this on a tank full of butterflies and he swears by it to this day. He had been losing fish regularly to cryptacarion, as well as oodinium, for 2 weeks, and suffered no more losses after employing this method of treatment.
Subject: Parasites
Fm: Kenneth Johnson To: Eric Castren
Eric,
To clarify the method I described involved lowering the salinity of the whole/actual aquarium. I agree that freshwater dipping, (outside the aquarium) or dipping in general, is stressful on the fish, not to mention impractical when trying to net fish in reef aquaria full of rock and delicate corals. Dipping outside the aquaria is also self-defeating (in my opinion), in the fact that it does not kill the free swimming and dormant eggs/spores within the aquaria. You are correct, most parasites are only eradicated within the tank during the free swimming stage. On parasite life cycle I will stop here because it is obvious in your correspondence, the info. would be old hat. No sense in stating what you already know.
On the salinity level, I have found an effective treatment level to be 1.017 in reef aquaria. Most corals are safe even lower than this (in my experience), but 1.017 usually does the trick. If I had to recommend a floor for the salinity, I have been as low as 1.015 in reef aquaria. Corals closed slightly directly after lowering salinity, but were open fully the next day, and I noticed no long term detrimental affects in growth rate as a result. I failed to mention before, that if the replacement water is RO/DI or other softened source, then a buffering agent should be employed to prevent ph and alkalinity drop.
It should be noted, that corals on reefs, are often subjected to much lower salinities than those stated above, after heavy rain falls. Especially reefs located near deltas. In extreme cases, corals have bleached (ie. expelled their xooanthellae, due to osmotic stress), and even died under such circumstances, but in most cases are little affected.
To adress sensitive corals, yes there are certain corals which I would have concern with in this treatment (Seriotopora hystrix for example). This category of sensitive corals would extend to Montipora digitata, Pocillopora sp., and other such hard corals generally exhibiting a fine, dense, polyp structure. Acropora sp. has been fine. Sensitive soft corals such as Xenia, lemnalia, etc.. respond little to the lower salinity. Even the hard corals I have mentioned should be fine down to 1.017, (wiith the exception of Seriotopora) as long as ph and alkalinity are kept at normal levels. I have NEVER lost any coral to this method , though the need has not arisen to use this method with the more sensitive hard corals mentioned.
The level at which salinity is at the beginning of treatment is irrelevant, as long as it is dropped slowly. If it is dropped too slowly, the parasites seem to adjust, and initial effect is less effective.
In a fish tank only, I usually recommend a level of 1.012, as was recommended to me by Dave at Aquarium Systems. I have not found any specie of fish that responds negatively, and found it the most effective for butterflies and the larger, more senstive angels (most notably Pomacanthus sp.).
Does the lower salinity kill the parasites? I can't say for sure, but the fish seem to exhibit almost immediate signs of relief. Some parasites release from the fish immediately, and others (such as black ich) have discolored, which implys they may be exploding due to osmotic change. Fish usually resume normal behaviour within 24 hrs. By leaving the salinity at the treatment level for at least 2 - 3 weeks, I have never seen an immediate recurrence, which would leave me to believe all the parasites are killed. A customer of mine was the first to try this on a tank full of butterflies and he swears by it to this day. He had been losing fish regularly to cryptacarion, as well as oodinium, for 2 weeks, and suffered no more losses after employing this method of treatment.
